


Forced Out

by Brunetteairhead



Category: King Falls AM (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Coming Out, Established Relationship, Gen, Internalized Homophobia, Light Angst, M/M, Pre-Canon, Sort Of, being outed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 11:40:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19767445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brunetteairhead/pseuds/Brunetteairhead
Summary: All Sammy wanted to do was get through the rest of the work day with as little drama as possible. But it seemed like the universe—and his supervisor—had other plans.AKA Sammy’s job before the radio station with Jack and Lily.





	Forced Out

Sammy’s hand shook with the effort it took to stop himself from slamming down the receiver. He pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes and leaned back in his cracking office chair. Maybe today he would finally cave and accept Mark’s offer of headache powder.

No. He wasn’t going to give himself a damn ulcer over this stupid temp job. Well, stupid former temp job. In spite of his hopes of working in radio after college, the three months Sammy initially planned to spend at this godforsaken factoring company had turned into ten. When his other job applications fell through, he had to let the employment agency sign him over to the company proper. He couldn’t afford his portion of rent otherwise.

_Just get through today. Tomorrow’s the interview at the radio station Jack and Lily work at. You’ll be out of here in no time._

Fortunately for Sammy’s headache, the basement room he worked in with six other people was almost deserted. Everyone except their supervisor Krissy had gone out to lunch. At least Sammy could look forward to half an hour of relative quiet. No bragging about how drunk they each got that weekend or bitching about how annoying their kids were or making racist comments about their Spanish-speaking clients.

Jess at the employment agency had described the factoring company as a business that essentially loaned truckers money so they wouldn’t have to wait to get paid a month after drop-off. Sammy, however, described it as his own personal hell. Nothing said, “Top ten places to work,” like angry clients accusing him of personally ruining Christmas for collecting back money they had been overpaid.

Granted, it beat the guy who asked if they could pay for a load after he set it on fire.

Sammy straightened up and rolled his shoulders back, trying to relieve some of the tension there. As infuriating as this job was, it did have some perks, he mused as he put his headphones on. As long as he got his work done and picked up the phone when the clients called, management didn’t care what he did in his downtime. Around lunchtime each day, Sammy tuned in to the show Jack and Lily worked on. They weren’t hosts, but Sammy was proud of his boyfriend and best friend and wanted to support them.

“Hey, Stevens!”

Sammy barely stifled a groan as the pain in his head spiked. Was it so much to ask for a few minutes without someone shouting to him across the room?

“What’s up, Krissy? You need something?”

“Nah, not really.” Sammy couldn’t see her over the cubicles, but he could hear her chair creaking as she spun. “You’re coming to the holiday party, right?”

Oh, yeah. That was coming up, wasn’t it? He still hadn’t decided what to do about his plus-one. Sammy was the only “single” person in the office and, as far as he could tell, the only gay one. Convincing his coworkers he was single and just living with his friends for financial reasons was easy enough. Just keep things vague, and people came to their own conclusions. Even if those conclusions included him pining after Lily of all people.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Awesome. Are you bringing your roommate?”

“Who, Lily? She’s got plans.”

“No, not her.” Creeeeak. “The cute one that dropped off your lunch the other week.”

“You mean Jack?”

“Yeah, him. Is he your plus-one?”

“I mean, probably. I already told management I’d bring someone, and he’ll never turn down free food.” _Even if we’ll have to pretend to be straight bros all night._

“Okay, cool. See, my friend Lisa’s looking for a new boyfriend, and I thought Jack looked like her type. I figured I could get to know him a bit better at the party and see if he’d be a good fit. Would you mind if I set them up?”

Sammy could have said a number of things in response. A number of reasonable things, even. Like, “I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Or maybe, “Jack’s not looking to date right now, sorry.” Or how about, “Why are you asking me if I mind?” Anything would have been better than what slipped out.

“He’s taken.”

If Krissy noticed how much Sammy’s voice darkened, she certainly didn’t comment on it. Instead, her chair continued creaking as she rotated. “Really? Taken by who?”

Sammy’s grip tightened on his arm rest, and the exposed metal underneath dug into his fingers. Why was she even asking? Did it matter?

He wasn’t ready for this. He knew he couldn’t lie wholesale. He could keep quiet or leave out some facts, sure, but he had never successfully lied off-the-cuff.

Before his racing mind could catch up, Sammy blurted out, “It’s none of your damn business.”

The creaking stopped. “Okay. Because I thought it might be you.”

For a moment, everything froze. The footsteps upstairs, the clock on the wall, even Sammy’s heartbeat. Then, the whole world came crashing down.

 _Is this really happening? Was I not careful enough? Does anyone else know? Does management know? Am I about to lose my job? Where does she get off asking if she can set her friend up with someone she thinks is taken?!_

“What gave it away?” The question came before he could deny it. Sammy’s voice sounded strained and distant even to his own ears.

“You kept calling him your ‘roommate.’” The creaking started up again. “It didn’t matter with Lily—she was just ‘Lily’—but you always called him, ‘my roommate Jack.’ It wasn’t hard to figure out.”

Was it really?

Krissy's voice almost sounded genuine when she said, “Look, I’m sorry if I cornered you into this.”

_There’s no “if” about it._

“It’s fine.” Except it really fucking wasn’t. “I’m just going to take a short walk. If someone calls asking for me, tell them I’m on lunch.”

He didn’t wait for her to respond before he grabbed his cell phone and walked out the back door, earlier headache forgotten. He typed in Jack’s number before he even thought about it, and he tried to will his hands to stop shaking.

Tomorrow’s interview needed to go well. Sammy wasn’t sure he’d have his stupid former temp job anymore by the end of the week.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little rough around the edges, but it’s the first fanfic I’ve posted in a few years. This is based off of personal experience, but I’ve changed the names of the people involved. Any feedback or comments would be greatly appreciated!


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